85 questions you should ask new hires

Hiring a new starter is the perfect time to find out how your business is actually perceived. When a new employee comes into your business they have a fresh pair of eyes and a different perspective on things. Asking the right questions can help you improve your own processes and make their experience a little more welcoming. Did you know companies lose 25% of all new employees within a year Allied Workforce Mobility Survey.

We have compiled a huge list of questions which you should ask new hires. These will help you improve your recruiting process to ensure you always get the best talent!

To get the most honest answers you should make the responses anonymous and collect them every 3 months so that you can’t work out who has written them. Of course, if you are in a smaller team this will need to be spread out even more, perhaps once per year. If you don’t then your new hires will be hesitant to write what they actually think

Questions you should ask new hires to help you improve your interview and preboarding experience

1. How did you find the job application/ where did you hear about it?

2. Did you find it easy or difficult to apply to the role?

3. Did you receive sufficient communications after you applied?

4. What did you think about the interview – the structure/the length/overall?

5. What did you think about the person interviewing you? Were they friendly, approachable, cold or distant etc?

6. Were we clear in what we expected from you?

7. Did we answer your questions thoroughly enough?

8. In three words how would you describe our company from your first perception?

9. What did you like the most about the interview?

10. What did you like the least about the interview?

11. Did you think our interview process was better or worse than other interviews you have had?

12. If better or worse could you explain further?

13. What could we change to improve our interview process?

14. Did you feel engaged with us from the time you accepted your offer to your first day?

15. Did you feel prepared before your first day?

16. Did you feel like we kept in contact enough before your first day?

17. Did we give you enough resources before your first day?

18. Did we make you feel excited and motivated before your first day?

Questions you should ask new hires to help you understand your good and bad points

19. What attracted you to our company?

20. What good features did our company have that other companies did not?

21. What bad features does our company have that other companies did not?

22. Why did you decide to join our company?

23. What were you most hesitant about before you joined us?

24. What were you most excited about before you joined us?

25. Was there anything that made you question whether you would fit in here?

26. At any point did you question whether you should join and if so why?

Questions you should ask new hires after their first couple of weeks

27. Were your team’s attitudes and behaviours how you thought they would be?

28. Was your manager how you thought they would be?

29. Was your role what you thought it would be?

30. Were your responsibilities what you thought they would be?

31. Does the role live up to your expectations?

32. Do you feel welcome and involved?

33. Did you have everything you need, if not what did you need?

34. What could we have done to make your first few weeks more enjoyable?

35. Do you feel like you can express yourself?

36. Do you know where to go if you have any problems?

37. Have all of your questions been answered or are you still left wondering about certain things?

38. Can you see yourself working here long term? If yes why? If no why?

39. Is there anything you would change about your role?

Questions you should ask new hires after their probation period

40. How much do you feel like you have progressed since your first day?

41. Who has helped you the most since your start date?

42. Do you feel like you have settled in well?

43. Do you feel like you know what you are doing?

44. How would you like your role to develop now?

45. Are there any challenges you have come up against?

46. Are there any challenges you are looking forward to/not looking forward to?

47. Do you feel like you fit in well?

48. Have your colleagues made an effort to make you feel welcome?

49. Does your manager communicate well with you?

50. How would you describe your relationship with your manager?

51. Would you recommend this company to a friend?

52. What did you like most about your first three months here?

53. What did you not enjoy about your first three months here?

54. How has your time here compared to other places that you have worked?

55. What would you like to learn more about?

56. What do you like most about your role?

57. What do you like least about your role?

58. How would you describe the company culture here?

Questions to ask a new starter after their first six months

59. Do you feel like you have a good career path here?

60. Do you feel like you’ve had the relevant training to help you succeed?

61. How could we help you develop your career further?

62. Can you see a bright future here? If yes why, if no why?

63. Do you have the opportunity to grow here?

64. Is there anyone you would like to work more with to help you succeed in your role?

65. What have you found the hardest during your first 6 months here?

66. What has made you the happiest during your first six months here?

67. What would you like to change about your role going forward?

68. What would you like to change about our processes going forward?

69. Do you feel fully supported in your role?

70. Has the role panned out the way that you thought it would?

71. Have you built strong relationships with your team?

72. What would you like to achieve in the next six months?

Questions to ask after your new starter has had their first year

73. Have you been given enough direction in your role?

74. If you were your manager what would you do differently?

75. Have you wanted to quit at any point? If yes why?

76. What do you think has been your greatest accomplishment this year?

77. Is there anything that you still find unclear or confusing?

78. Do you see any roadblocks from getting where you want to be within the company?

79. Do you get recognised for all the extra work that you do?

80. Do you get enough feedback here?

81. Have you faced any conflicts since you have been here?

82. Do you feel valued here?

83. What makes you feel motivated here?

84. What makes you feel demotivated here?

85. What would you like to achieve in the upcoming year?

Of course, you don’t have to use all of these, but they are a great way to really understand how your employees perceive your company and your team. They will help you provide a better employee experience which in turn leads to better performance and decreased staff turnover.

If you need help with preboarding, onboarding or developing employee performance, get in touch. Call us on 01273 778289, say hello at hi@oplift.io or fill in our contact form and we’ll get back to you right away. Our solution makes it easy to engage, train and motivate your workforce.